"If I'm the guy who is standing between getting rid of the Common Core
and keeping it, I can go to sleep fine saying, 'Yeah, I think it's the
right thing, and that's not a problem,'" said Olsen, R-Ripon.

Wow. Again, down the red road, be it McCarthyism or Nazism. Using the big red scare.

First they came for the protestors, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a protestor.Then they came for the unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a unionist.Then they came for the moderates, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a moderate.Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

"Big government" as defined by the far-right GOP base of tea baggers now evidently refers not just to federal or state or even local government, but any government of any kind that they do not control. It's not small, but rather small-minded government that they like.

The Teapublicans have no problem with government supporting the cause of business and financial interests. It's suddenly not "over-reach" when public money is used to pay for private education (while they view public schools as "government" schools). Parental "choice," vouchers, both need and feed on public money for them to advance as they slowly try to disable and privatize our public schools.They get government/public money, but at the same time, they want that money with no strings attached.The Teapublicans especially hate the idea of having any common standards or expectations connected with the public money from the government. Suddenly, it becomes a "local control" argument (yet elected school boards are also something that get in their way).Having standards only encourages performance studies and comparisons beween public and private education, after all, something privatizers want no part of. Rand Paul hopefully will be questioned at St. Anthony this week by someone besides the cheerleaders--let's take out and use those critical thinking skills. Given his segregationist and neo-confederate record, let's ask him about why Tea Party has such problems with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Should history contrary to the Tea Party Lost Cause be standardly taught in schools?